the new mantra of classical concerts is “theme”. Maybe it comes from the advertising world. I don’t know, but it is rare to have a classical music program these days that doesn’t have one- “spiritual morning”, monsoon ragas (nothing new there), madhya laya compositions or composer based programs. Last weekend NCPA had one such well promoted program with the Gundecha brothers singing Tansen compositions, Ulhas Kashalkar singing Sadarang-Adarang compositions, Shekhar Sen and the ubiquitous Shujaat Khan singing bhakti songs. I missed the programs. For me I didn’t think there would be anything new- Sadarang/Adarang compositions we hear all the time, and dhrupad compositions of Tansen just do not interest me much. I hope the programs were a success; composers need more recognition. Shujaat Khan seems to have some great pr machine going these days. I am not much of a fan of his singing and his sitar playing hasn’t moved me. He was in the newspaper the other day and there was a nice photo of him with Asha Bhosle. They are going on tour where she will be singing the compositions of his father! It seems so unlikely. As wonderful a singer that she is, I do not think she would be able to do justice to the songs in live performance. I would not be surprised if the project ends up in a recording studio.
I have just finished reading kumar prasad Mukherjis book “the lost world of hindustani music” published by penguin india in 2006. I loved this book. It is autobiographical and packed with history and anecdotes. I only wish there were more! I can just imagine all that he left out. Well, ok, I guess editing is necessary and the book can only be so long. If I ever have to review this book there will be precious little to criticise! It is surprising that in a paragraph talking about the ragas bhairav, ramkeli and kalingda, bhairav has become bhairavi- a stupid mistake by the publisher.
I have purchased my copy of the new book “My Name is Gauhar Jan” by Vikram Sampath and cant wait to read it. i noticed that Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan are having a listening session devoted to her music. That should be interesting if they analyze her music and not just repeat information and play the records. I hope to attend that.
I think some of your observations are so right. Because there is so little education and respect given to Hindustani classical music in our society in general, there seems a desperate effort to find listeners, most of whom don’t have the background needed to propel the art in a subtle way forward. The classical art can of course still be loved and valued without this education, but because it is, by its very nature, a classical form, it deserves and demands knowledge, close attention and relish. Today, it has become much more about the cult of personality (and just a few) and concerts are sponsored by corporations whose main interest is to have a safe bottom line financially. At least in Europe, the classical music has been given government subsidization and concert presenters aren’t difficult to contact by artists like here in India.
Given this current state, I particularly appreciate and respect musicians who do persistent riyaaz and strive for excellence in their art regardless of the surrounding commercialism, who are motivated purely by the beauty of the classical art itself.
I hope that the field and community begins again to value substance and genuine love of the tradition again. Otherwise, it will be hard to find the way back to an art that is truly thriving and inspired. One such master whose musicianship I respect very much who connects to the art in this way is the sarodist Rajeev Taranath. He has spent a lifetime staying true to the intent to delve deep into the music, to explore and find relish and love of sound while maintaining the necessary respect for the classical form. It is a recognition of an inheritance that comes with being part of the stream of tradition.
The book on Gauhar Jan you mentioned sounds very interesting.
thanks Kanu for that nicely written comment. In the current scenario it is difficult for a professional artist to keep his head above the water. I was struck by a comment of a very good friend of mine Dhanashree Pandit, a really wonderful singer who said that after putting in the long hours and years of riaz and especially the M Mus degree from bombay university she wanted now to benefit from all of that. That means concerts and they just are not there- not enough to make a good living. It is of course one of the reasons there are more female singers than male these days- the woman is not usually the main breadwinner of the family. Many young singers have “day” jobs, like Wajahat and Raja Mian at Ruby Mansion and Milind Chitale. Nothing new there maybe, as that was the case in the past with Sharad Sathe, Babanrao Haldankar and Arun Kashalkar to name a few. Hats off to them for juggling all of it, eventhough sometimes retirement does not result in the expected boom in singing career. It seems to me that the real trick is to keep the morale up. There is a lot of frustration in younger singers. “How do I get programs????” It is not easy. The catch-22- the organiser would like to promote young talent but he/she must book big names or nobody will come! I must praise the Vyas brothers, Panchem Nishaad, who make as good an effort as possible and have some imaginative programs for promotion of young talent. Here I would like to mention something said in a concert in Mumbai a few years ago by Hari Prasad Chaurasia that really annoyed me. In appreciating yogesh samsi’s lagi he said something like, where are the tabla players to play this kind of lagi these days, for that matter where are the thumri singers- all gone.” This from someone who never attends concerts (except his own)! There are some fantastic thumri singers now, starting with Birju Maharaj, girja devi, savita devi, purnima chaudhury, ganesh mishra, channulal mishra, shubha joshi, shampa pakrasi, afroze banu, parveen sultana, shubha mudgal, just to name a few. Just because they don’t get so many programs doesn’t mean they are not there! As crass and commercial as they are, the tv talent shows promote some pretty good talent and sometimes is the only avenue for a young singer from the boondocks or mofussil to get anywhere. There were some amazing mirasi singers from rajasthan especially Raja Hasan from Bikaner and Toshi from Jaipur. On the current Indian Idol Sreeram from Hyderabad is an extraordinary singer. All of the finalists at least know classical music to some extent. Judges like Sunidi Chauhan are particular about the same criteria that are used for any classical performance.
I have never heard Rajeev Taranath. Is he related to the tabla player taranath who I believe went to Los Angeles with Ravi Shankar?
What a nice reply. So very thoughtful. And your comments are so spot on. The reason you may not have heard of Rajeev Taranath, the great Ustad Ali Akbar Khan’s top disciple, is that you will never be able to comprehend the way in which organizers make decisions in this field. Mostly it is boiled down to three things- do I like the artist’s personality, will he or she bring in some money (just in case I do not like her/him!), do they play in the style I like. Pancham Nishad also have this tendency to only bring people they like personally. You will never know who you missed hearing because of the very personal decisions by many organizers. Gone is the day of the simple value and recognition of riyaaz and knowledge of raag. Mohan Nadkarni once wrote a review in the newspaper which I read that talked about Rajeev Taranath’s performance, saying how Mumbai should hear more of him. But this was 15 years or more ago! There is no objective MUSICAL reason that you have not heard this performer. This shows us how many we have been unfortunate to have not heard. Rajeev Taranath is not related to Taranath Rao. Here is a website for him: http://www.rajeevtaranath.com
Another factor in some decision making could be community/regional loyalties. Again, nothing to do with music itself. We all need to apply some loving pressure to bear on those that wish to take the trouble to present classical concerts and ask them to find not only the upcoming good artists but also not neglect veterans of this music and life who have much to offer us.
Thank you again for your very interesting response.
Kanu, thanks for your comment. Mumbai is a very vocal-centric city and sarod-sitar not too often heard here, certainly compared to kolkatta. Organisers are always up to their tricks but I have found the listening public to be a good quality filter as well. It still is true that the top artists in the country are excellent artists. I think that no matter how good the artist technically, if the emotional content and connection with the public is not there, there will be no popularity. That was true with krishnarao shankar pandit, nisar hussein khan, ramnarayan and many others. And despite being out of favor with the “critics” hari prasad chaurasia, pt. jasraj, parveen sultana remain at the top. Technical dazzle can be very successful abroad or in delhi but in mumbai listeners have to feel something. Mind you, I am not saying this in relation to Rajeev Taranath who I have never heard! james